The Alternate Daughter
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: ER no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
"It was like my entire life just shattered" Ria said softly. Her head was resting on Luca's lap, and she was staring up at the ceiling as she told him what had happened.
"You couldn't find him?" Luca asked. She'd just got done telling him all about "Ryan". She was a psychologist, which surprised him considering how very young she was, but she said she started college a year early and just kept working until she was done, a year ago. She'd immediately set up her own practice, a lofty ambition for someone so young and inexperienced, but Luca had no doubts that she would have succeeded.
"No" she harumphed, "I don't know if that was even his real name. I got the divorce papers in the mail. At least he did that for me" She'd met "Ryan" after college, at a renuion at the orphanage she'd grown up in. He told her he was an orphan too, and that he was a bioengineer. They started dating and after about six months he'd asked her to marry him. Caught up in the whirl wind of having her own family, her own practice, she'd accepted and they were married the next week. He encouraged her to put his name on all of her accounts, telling her he'd done the same. And a week after their marriage, he was gone, with all her money and none of her debt. She had had just enough money to pay for her back rent and expendures after she'd sold her practice, which left her with absolutely nothing. No house, no money and no job. Finding she was pregnant, she'd run to the Church to help her, but her parish was a poor one, and all they could offer was a cot in the back room, and a little food money, which she gratefully took. She'd started out looking for jobs as a psychatrist, but no one wanted a girl with no home and no experience. So she'd gone from interview to interview for five months, until Luca had found her.
Luca didn't know what to say. He could only imagine the hells she'd suffered through and the heartache they must've caused. But even though he knew she'd been in pain, she still held her resilant spirit. She was all that she had been, and maybe a bit more wise, a bit more worldly, and a lot more hurt. He didn't understand where his feelings were coming from, or going to. He felt that if this "Ryan" had been standing there now, he'd have beat him close to death, and not have felt a tiny bit sorry for it. He was close to sobbing himself for the unfairness of the pain she'd been put through, and more than anything he wanted to protect her, and kiss her. Kiss her? Where did that come from?
"Am I stupid, Luca?" she cried, ripping him from his thoughts, "Am I so dumb I couldn't see through him? What am I saying? Of course I am, look at me, look at what's happened! I must be the singularly dafftest person on the face of this planet!" Fresh tears were pouring from her eyes, and Luca wondered if she'd ever cried before.
"No, no" he said soothingly, wiping the tears from her face, "You're not stupid. Men like that are perfect liars, they can fool anyone. It wasn't you" Her crying decreased, but Luca wasn't worried about the tears. He was worried about her soul.
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: ER no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
"It was like my entire life just shattered" Ria said softly. Her head was resting on Luca's lap, and she was staring up at the ceiling as she told him what had happened.
"You couldn't find him?" Luca asked. She'd just got done telling him all about "Ryan". She was a psychologist, which surprised him considering how very young she was, but she said she started college a year early and just kept working until she was done, a year ago. She'd immediately set up her own practice, a lofty ambition for someone so young and inexperienced, but Luca had no doubts that she would have succeeded.
"No" she harumphed, "I don't know if that was even his real name. I got the divorce papers in the mail. At least he did that for me" She'd met "Ryan" after college, at a renuion at the orphanage she'd grown up in. He told her he was an orphan too, and that he was a bioengineer. They started dating and after about six months he'd asked her to marry him. Caught up in the whirl wind of having her own family, her own practice, she'd accepted and they were married the next week. He encouraged her to put his name on all of her accounts, telling her he'd done the same. And a week after their marriage, he was gone, with all her money and none of her debt. She had had just enough money to pay for her back rent and expendures after she'd sold her practice, which left her with absolutely nothing. No house, no money and no job. Finding she was pregnant, she'd run to the Church to help her, but her parish was a poor one, and all they could offer was a cot in the back room, and a little food money, which she gratefully took. She'd started out looking for jobs as a psychatrist, but no one wanted a girl with no home and no experience. So she'd gone from interview to interview for five months, until Luca had found her.
Luca didn't know what to say. He could only imagine the hells she'd suffered through and the heartache they must've caused. But even though he knew she'd been in pain, she still held her resilant spirit. She was all that she had been, and maybe a bit more wise, a bit more worldly, and a lot more hurt. He didn't understand where his feelings were coming from, or going to. He felt that if this "Ryan" had been standing there now, he'd have beat him close to death, and not have felt a tiny bit sorry for it. He was close to sobbing himself for the unfairness of the pain she'd been put through, and more than anything he wanted to protect her, and kiss her. Kiss her? Where did that come from?
"Am I stupid, Luca?" she cried, ripping him from his thoughts, "Am I so dumb I couldn't see through him? What am I saying? Of course I am, look at me, look at what's happened! I must be the singularly dafftest person on the face of this planet!" Fresh tears were pouring from her eyes, and Luca wondered if she'd ever cried before.
"No, no" he said soothingly, wiping the tears from her face, "You're not stupid. Men like that are perfect liars, they can fool anyone. It wasn't you" Her crying decreased, but Luca wasn't worried about the tears. He was worried about her soul.